Miniature demonstration set



1938. B. R. PINNEY 2,127,047

MINIATURE DEMONSTRATION SET Filed NOV. '16, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug.16, 1938. B. R. PINNEY MINIATURE DEMONSTRATION SET Filed Nov. 16, 1955 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Yr/74y! Jzwezz/ar 1,7

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Patented Aug. 16, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MINIATUREDEMONSTRATION SET Iowa Application November 16, 1935, Serial No. 50,11!

6 Claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a miniature demonstration setwhich is simple, durable and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

A further object is to provide a demonstration set in miniature for thepurpose of more conveniently illustrating to prospective customers justhow full sized units of equipment will look in a completed installation,the set including blocks to scale of the units which may be readilyshifted about to determine the best arrangement and selection of unitsfor a room or space of known dimensions.

A further object is to provide a demonstration set in which units toscale may be mounted on 9. represented wall of a room in suspendedposition over other blocks placed on the floor thereof such as usuallyfound in kitchen cabinet constructions wherein the intervening wallspace permitting use of the top of the lower unit as a work table top.

Another object is to' reduce the number of blocks required forrepresenting various units by providing blocks of various sizes and aplurality of illustrative frontal members of various sizes andcharacteristics which can be placed in front of the blocks thus makingtheir front appearance interchangeable.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists in theconstruction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of mydevice, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinaftermore fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my demonstration set showing some ofthe blocks in use to illustrate a kitchen.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of one of the wall units of the same.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one of the blocks for mounting on thefloor against the wall showing the separate top and frontal memberstherefor.

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 4--4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 isa perspective view of one of the trays of the set showingsome of the blocks therein and from which some of the blocks have beenremoved to construct Figure 1; and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a plurality of the frontal cardsusedin connection with some of the blocks in Figure 1.

On the accompanying drawings I have used the reference numeral Ill toindicate a floor member and I2 and I4 to indicate wall members arrangedat right angles to each other and extending upwardly from the floormember It, thus half the wall space of a room may be represented at onetime and the other half or other two walls may be represented at anothertime, if desired.

My demonstration set includes a plurality of blocks l6, I8, 20, 22 and24 adapted for mounting on the floor member ID against the wall membersi2 and I4. Other blocks 26 and 28 are also adapted for floor mounting,while still others, such as 30, 32, 34, 36, 38 and ,40 are adapted forwall. mounting. Where space is available for equipment above the blocks,such as 34, 3B, 38 and 40, blocks 42, 44, 46 and 48 may be used.

In connection with the block it, shown in Figure 1, a frontal member 50and a top member 52 are provided. vA frontal member 53 is provided forthe block 20. In connection with the block 22 a frontal member 54 and atop member 56 are provided, while the block 24 has a frontal mem- Inorder to represent the doors or windows of the room, I provide cards orpaper sheets 58 and 60 which may be held in place by the blocks restingagainst the edges thereof.

The floor member I0 is provided with numbered scales 62 adjacent thewalls i2 and I4 to represent feet and the doors and windows may beplaced to correspond to the dimensions in an actual room which has beenmeasured and in which it is desirable to place units of equipment, thedemonstration set, of course, being used to illustrate the equipmentwhen in position and the various blocks being shifted as desired toobtain the best arrangement. Also the blocks are of various widths andthe set includes one or more blocks of each of the usual standard widthsso that the proper widths to best fit the space available can be used.

Each of the blocks I6, 20, 22 and 24 is provided with a top member 64overhanging the front face of the block and these are provided withgrooves 66 (see Figure 4) in alignment with the front face.

The floor member I0 is provided with a groove 68 aligned with the groove66 and these receive the upper and lower edges respectively of the cards50, 53, 54 and 51.

When setting up the demonstration set for use, the room to berepresented is measured and the distances from the corner of the roomare marked as by inserting pins Ill in the floor member III to indicatethe possible limits to which the units of equipment can be extended.

It is clearly illustrated in Figure 3 that the frontal member 54 and thetop member 56 are separate from the block 22 while in Figure 5 a tray 12is provided for a plurality of blocks indicated at 20a, 20b, 20c, 36a,36b, 36c and 36d. Dimensions in inches are given on the blocks and onthe front of the tray 12, these dimensions referring to the widthsrepresented by the blocks, two twenty inch blocks and one of thethirty-six inch blocks being removed from the tray I2 and inserted inthe demonstration set as illustrated in Figure 1 at 20, 36 and 24respectively. 1

In Figure 6 additional frontal cards 51a, 51b,

51c and 51d are illustrated, the thirty-six inch card being used inFigure lat 5'1. 7

There are various sizes of equipment already installed in kitchens andthere is illustrated by the block 26 one of these,-which in thisinstance is an electric refrigerator. When there is such a piece ofequipment already installed in the kitchen, it is sometimes possible toplace a cabinet, such as 30, over it. The block 28 represents a broomcloset or ironing board cabinet, which is necessarily tall, and there isspace over it for a cabinet such as represented by the block 32.

It will be noted that there is wall space between the block I8 and theblock 34. The block 34 is suspended on the walls I2 and M by a pair ofhooks similar to the hook shown at 14 in Figure 2 on the block 38. Theblocks 36 and 40 also have similar hooks while the blocks 42, 44, 46 and48 are also provided with these hooks as it is sometimes desirable tosupport the upper row of blocks at a lower elevation by hooking them onthe upper edges of the wall members instead of supporting them on theblocks 34, 36, 38 and 40 which in turn are supported on the wallmembers.

I have not shown on the drawings all .the pieces of the demonstrationset as many of them are duplicates, except as to widths, the members 51,51a, 51b, 51c, and 51d for instance illustrating five widths of frontalcards having cabinet doors and drawers. The frontal card 53 has drawersonly and, of course, there would be several widths of these. Also therewould be several widths of the grill sink front cards 50, etc.

I have provided a demonstration set in which the parts can be readilyset up for pictorially illustrating a room of given dimensions and sinceall the blocks are to scale the maximum size of the blocks can be usedto fill the available space and it is thus possible to determine whatstyles and sizes of cabinets best fit into the room.

The various units also can be shifted around to get the most efiicientarrangement, all of this being readily possible with the demonstrationset before the units are ordered and installed in the room.

I have illustrated kitchen equipment, although it will be obvious thatmany other types of equipment can be illustrated in a similar manner.The arrangement of hooks on the wall unit blocks and grooves in the topmembers 64 and the floor member l0 provide for ready and effectivemounting of the units with respect to the represented room. The use ofinterchangeable frontal members on the blocks which are mounted on thefloor against the walls makes it possible to provide a set of differentwidth blocks and a variety of frontal members without having to providea different block for each style of frontal member, thus reducing thesize of the set considerably.

The frontal members fitting in the groove 68 also retain the blocks,such as 22 in Figure 4, against the wall member H or the cards 58. The

different top cards such as 52 and 56 may represent sinks, dish washers,stoves and the like while the frontal cards may also illustrate stoves,such as 64, and other equipment to be found in a kitchen.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of theparts of my device without departing from the real spirit and purpose ofmy invention and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modifiedforms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may bereasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. A miniature demonstration set comprising a floor member and a wallmember, blocks representing units of equipment to be set on the floormember along the wall member, overhanging tops for said blocks, groovesin the under face of said tops and in front of the front faces of saidblocks and interchangeable sheet material front members for insertionwith their upper edges in said grooves and their lower edges supportedby said floor member.

2. In a demonstration set of the character disclosed, a miniature devicerepresenting a portion of a room and comprising the combination of afloor member, a wall member, and a plurality of blocks adapted to beplaced against said wall member to represent in miniature, equipment forinstallation in the represented room whereby a pictorial view of a roomand such equipment on a miniature scale may be set up, some of saidblocks being suspended on said wall with a space between said some ofsaid blocks and other blocks supported on said floor whereby torepresent work space on the tops of said other blocks,

3. In a demonstration set of the character disclosed, a miniature devicerepresenting a portion of a room and comprising a pair of wall membersat right angles to each other, a floor member spanning the distancebetween the bottom edges of said wall members, and a plurality of blocksadapted to be placed against said wall members to represent inminiature, equipment for installation in the represented room whereby apictorial view of a room and such equipment on a miniature scale may beset up, some of said blocks having on their back surfaces downwardlyopening hooks adapted for supporting engagement over the upper edges ofsaid walls, the distance between the bottoms of said hooks and thebottoms of some of said blocks being less than the distance between thetop edges of said wall members and the tops of the other blocks.

4. In a demonstration set of the character disclosed, a miniature devicerepresenting a portion of a room and comprising the combination of afloor member, a wall member, a plurality of blocks and cards, saidblocks being adapted to be placed against said wall member to representin miniature equipment for installation in the represented room, wherebya pictorial view of a room and such equipment on a miniature scale maybe set up, some of said blocks having overhanging tops and said cardshaving illustrated thereon equipment frontal representations and beinginterposed between said overhanging tops and said floor and therebyretained in position.

5. A miniature demonstration set comprising a floor member, a wallmember, blocks to represent units of equipment to fit on the floormember along the wall member, said blocks having vertical frontsurfaces, interchangeable sheet material front members for positioningagainst said front surfaces of said units, said front members ill forsaid blocks, grooves in the under face of said tops and in said floormember aligned with the front faces of said blocks, and interchangeablesheet material fronts for insertion in said grooves, their upper edgesin the grooves in said under faces of said tops and their lower edges insaid groove in said floor member.

BYRON RUSSELL ,PINNEY.

